The present invention relates generally to a circuit connection assembly and, more particularly, to such an assembly embodying at least one flexible circuit member.
Connection assemblies are known in the art in which electrical connections are made between conductors on circuit members, such as flexible flat cables, and between one flexible cable and a printed circuit board without the use of intermediate conducting contact elements. In such arrangements, typically dimples are formed in the conductive strips of the flat cable, or metallic buttons are mounted thereon, which are brought into pressure contact with the conductors on another flat cable or printed circuit board by applying pressure to the two elements such connection assemblies are disclosed in U. S. Pat. Nos. 4,116,517 and 4,125,310.
Connection assemblies of the same general type discussed above have also been utilized in arrangements which permit motion separation between the two circuit members. That is, one circuit member, typically a flat cable, is withdrawn laterally from a clamping connector and the other circuit member which are held immobile when a force is applied to the flat cable, such as may occur when the first circuit member is attached to a vehicle and the connector and mating circuit member are mounted on a fixed support. It would be desirable to provide in such an assembly an arrangement which eliminates the possibility of incorrect polarization of the circuit members when mated in the connector without increasing the resistance to separation of the movable circuit member from the fixed member.
Further, it is known in the prior art to provide a conductive EMI, RFI, EMP shield on the mating surfaces of the two halves of the connector between which the circuit members are clamped. In the conventional connection assembly, when the movable circuit member is withdrawn from the assembly upon launch, the bared conductors on such member may become shorted by the conductive shield on the connector which could impair operation of the launching mechanism. Accordingly, it would also be desirable to provide some means for preventing such shorting condition from occurring upon separation of the movable circuit member from the connector.